Amanda Hunt

Welcome to the new normal. We at AFC have noticed a decline in artistic output from Brooklyn’s DIY scene as of late, while commercial galleries and institutions in Manhattan (and a few in Queens) have been gearing-up for battle mode with politically-charged programming. We’re hoping this is because everyone in Brooklyn is too busy thinking about resistance, and not because they’ve fled the country.

Tuesday night, The New School is hosting a talk about female bodies online, and Wednesday, the New Museum is opening a massive Raymond Pettibon show. After checking it out, head down the block to ICP, where curators will be discussing the loaded Perpetual Revolution: The Image and Social Change. More talks will come Thursday, such as the Brooklyn Museum’s call to defend immigrants and the Flux Factory/ABC No Rio potluck/opening/discussion about artists’ mutual aid in times like these. Friday night, take a break from political angst to get lost in the dreamy paintings of Jordan Kasey at Nicelle Beauchene, or the likely dreamier office set E.S.P. TV has staged at Pioneer Works. The weekend brings more great art and opportunities for creative resistance: be sure to check out the Queens Museum’s event to build climate change resistance coalitions between artists and activists.

Saul Armendariz, the world-famous Mexican-American luchador (wrestler) known as “Cassandro El Exotico” at home in El Paso, Texas. Photo by Katie Orlinsky

“Being gay is a gift from god.” No, that doesn’t come from an evangelist, it comes from Cassandro, one of the most famous lucha libre wrestlers to wrestle as an exótico, the sissy, drag complement to wrestling’s macho elite. [The New Yorker]

The Studio Museum in Harlem has chosen three young artists (all 30 or younger) for slots in this year’s Artist-in-Residence program, a year-long residency that grants each artist $20,000 in fellowship money. Those artists are…drumroll, please! Sadie Barnette, Lauren Halsey, and Eric Mack. Lauren and Eric both received their MFAs from Yale. [Art Daily]

More news from the Studio Museum: Amanda Hunt, a CCA alum and curator at LAXART, has been hired as the museum’s Assistant Curator. Making waves. [Art Daily]

Miss the Emmys last night? Us too. Gawker has the highlights. [Gawker]

Within the span of 30 years, someone has had a baby that has grown up—maybe he received a PhD and got married along the way. 30 years also happens to be the length of time it took the Indianapolis Museum of Art to commission a Roy Lichtenstein sculpture. The project had been abandoned in the late 1980s due to cost issues. [NUVO]

Hrag Vartanian discusses the damage the wars in the Middle East are causing on archeological sites. [Hyperallergic]

Fakes plague the Chinese antiques market. In an effort to combat this problem, private reference libraries are being built to better establish provenance and scholarship. [The Art Newspaper]